Category: News

Turning up the light: harnessing the potential of silicon carbide in optomechanical devices
October 30, 2025Described in a new study published in Photonics Research and selected for inclusion in Spotlight on Optics, researchers at the University of Florida and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) have built a chip-sized device that uses forces exerted by photons to “strum” a single-crystal 4H silicon carbide (SiC) microdisk, inducing it to vibrate at frequencies that can be detected with the right techniques and equipment.
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Ruchkin & Príncipe get visual
October 28, 2025Ivan Ruchkin, PhD, and José Príncipe, PhD, are collaborating on an NSF-funded project aiming to create an end-to-end methodology to model, analyze, quantify, detect, and adapt to changes in the visual environment of an autonomous cyber-physical system.
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New Power Electronics Lab Honors ECE Alumnus, Powers Teaching & Research
October 3, 2025Monolithic Power Systems, manufacturer of small, highly energy efficient, easy-to-use industrial power management solutions, formally dedicated a named lab space in Benton Hall on Thursday, Oct. 2. The newly renovated lab space is designed to strengthen the department’s research and teaching capabilities in the area of power electronics, while enhancing opportunities for collaboration.
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Kim and Anderson Secure DARPA Grant to Transform Chip Manufacturing Using Atom-to-Wafer Framework
October 3, 2025Dennis S. Kim, Ph.D., alongside co-PI Travis Anderson, Ph.D., from UF Chemical Engineering, have received a DARPA CRYSTAL grant to replace costly trial-and-error methods in wafer bonding with predictive modeling. The project tackles a critical manufacturing challenge: even advanced platforms like lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) lack reliable models to predict optimal bonding conditions, limiting the scalable production of next-generation photonic, sensing, and electronic devices.
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New light-based chip boosts power efficiency of AI tasks 100 fold
September 8, 2025A team of engineers has developed a new kind of computer chip that uses light instead of electricity to perform one of the most power-intensive parts of artificial intelligence — image recognition and similar pattern-finding tasks.
Using light dramatically cuts the power needed to perform these tasks, with efficiency 10 or even 100 times that of current chips performing the same calculations. Using this approach could help rein in the enormous demand for electricity that is straining power grids and enable higher performance AI models and systems.
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Gator Africa Promises to Bring Collaboration, Exchange with Sub-Saharan Universities
August 26, 2025A new initiative, led by Sachio Semmoto Chair of ECE Mark Tehranipoor and ECE Associate Chair for Academics Christophe Bobda, promises to connect University of Florida (UF) students and faculty with faculty and students from ECE departments and engineering colleges across Sub-Saharan Africa.
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A UF Rising Star, Silva Wins More Teaching Awards
June 23, 2025An instructional assistant professor with the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE), Silva received the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering Undergraduate Teacher of the Year Award earlier this year.
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Semiconductor Summit celebrates Florida’s momentum in chip manufacturing, addresses workforce gaps
March 4, 2025With a string of rocket launches nearly 60 miles to the north, hundreds of industry leaders, scientists and educators gathered on Florida’s Space Coast last week to assess the state’s foothold in semiconductor production. Hosted by the Florida Semiconductor Institute and tech giant/defense contractor L3Harris, the 2025 Florida Semiconductor Summit analyzed a boundless industry that […]
Read more: Semiconductor Summit celebrates Florida’s momentum in chip manufacturing, addresses workforce gaps »2024—A Transformational Year for ECE Florida
January 9, 20252024 was nothing short of transformative for UF ECE, with groundbreaking new research initiatives, an amazing new building, incredible support for faculty, and many prestigious awards.
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Sachio Semmoto Joins ECE for a Fireside Chat
October 21, 2024Join ECE for a unique fireside chat with world-renowned innovator and entrepreneur Dr. Sachio Semmoto. Students will have the chance to ask Dr. Semmoto about his life, his career path, and anything else on Wednesday, Oct. 23 at 11:00am at the NVIDIA Auditorium in Malachowsky Hall.
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